Datong Sun
About Datong Sun
Datong Sun is a Principal Engineer at Kong Inc., where he has worked since 2021, leading a sub-team focused on performance and stability improvements of the Kong API Gateway. He has a background in systems engineering and web development, with previous roles at companies such as Cloudflare and LinkedIn, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Iowa State University.
Current Role at Kong Inc.
Datong Sun serves as a Principal Engineer at Kong Inc., a position he has held since 2021. In this role, he focuses on performance and stability improvements of the Kong API Gateway. He built and leads a sub-team dedicated to enhancing these aspects of the platform. His responsibilities include engaging in customer-facing work, which involves live troubleshooting, debugging, and managing communication with clients.
Previous Experience at Kong Inc.
Before becoming a Principal Engineer, Datong Sun worked at Kong Inc. as a Systems Engineer from 2019 to 2021. He transitioned to the Tech Lead role in 2020, where he contributed to various projects for a total of four years in the San Francisco Bay Area. His experience at Kong has involved significant contributions to the performance and stability of the Kong API Gateway.
Educational Background in Computer Science
Datong Sun earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Iowa State University, where he studied from 2012 to 2016. His education provided a foundation in software development and systems engineering, which he has applied throughout his career in various roles.
Professional Experience Prior to Kong
Datong Sun's career includes various roles prior to his tenure at Kong Inc. He worked at Iowa State University as a Web Developer from 2013 to 2014 and as a Student Developer from 2014 to 2016. He also gained experience as a Systems Engineer at Cloudflare, Inc. from 2016 to 2017 and completed an internship as a Site Reliability Engineer at LinkedIn in 2015.
Contributions to Kong Gateway
Datong Sun has made significant contributions to the Kong Gateway, particularly with the introduction of a Rust-based core component responsible for incoming request routing. This component has been instrumental in powering billions of production traffic since the release of Kong Gateway 3.0. He has been involved in low-level systems development, performance profiling, tuning techniques, and observability frameworks since this release.